Biography

Elton was born in Pinner, England in 1947, 4 years after his fellow British knight, Sir Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones Tour. After the usual course of piano lessons, Sir Elton John studied at the Royal Academy of Music before embarking on a pop career playing piano and organ with Bluesology and Long John Baldry. It was the influence of Baldry and saxophonist Elton Dean that led John to pay tribute to them by adopting their names as his own. Elton soon began to write his own material, teaming up with Bernie Taupin in response to a newspaper advertisement.

Elton first gained prominence in the early 1970s when his songwriting partnership with lyricist Bernie Taupin resulted in a succession of gold and platinum albums and #1 singles. In 1971 he became the first artist since The Beatles to have four albums in the U.S. Top 10 simultaneously. Honky Chateau, released in July 1972, kicked off a string of seven consecutive #1 albums.

Elton John has been a creative force in the music industry for more than three decades. In addition to his status as a legendary recording artist, he has been honored with both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award in the category of Original Song for "Can You Feel The Love Tonight," from The Lion King (lyricist Tim Rice shared these awards). In addition, John and Rice co-wrote the Oscar-nominated songs "Circle Of Life" and "Hakuna Matata" for The Lion King, the soundtrack to which was the top-selling album of 1994 (it has passed the 12 million mark). The Lion King still reigns as the top-grossing animated feature ever.